The Knowsley LSP

A borough-wide approach that will contribute to a broader Merseyside strategy

 

Sponsoring the toolkit

The invitation by Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) to sponsor the Child Poverty toolkit provided an excellent opportunity for Knowsley to be involved in the development of a truly localised approach to eradicating child poverty. Knowsley’s commitment to this agenda was demonstrated by their entire Local Strategic Partnership’s endorsement of the sponsorship.

 

Current activity contributing to the reduction of child poverty

There are numerous social regeneration programmes/strategies across Knowsley such as the Employment and Skills Strategy and the Every Child Matters agenda, both of which contribute to the reduction of child poverty. However, like most other local areas, Knowsley does not have a strategy in place that pulls this work together with the overarching aim to reduce child poverty. Much of the existing provision is fragmented and there is a need for a more co-ordinated strategic focus.

 

Child Poverty – the picture in Knowsley

Existing data relating to child poverty has highlighted alarming trends for Knowsley. For instance:

Children in workless households

  • Despite reducing the number of children living in working households by 30% since1999, figures in many areas of the borough remain high:
  • Eight of Knowsley's wards have more than twice the national average of children living in families on benefits (The national average is 21%)
  • In one ward, almost 70% of children live in households dependant on benefits.  This is the highest rate in Great Britain. 

Children in low income households (In-work poverty) 

In-work poverty is a particular concern. Figures from HMRC relating to WTC and CTC have shown that over a quarter of Knowsley families in work are on a low income. Knowsley has the highest percentage of families in this situation, higher than all neighbouring authorities and the national comparator.

 

What does the Knowsley Partnership hope to gain from the toolkit?

The toolkit will enable Knowsley to develop a cross-cutting Child Poverty strategy with locally agreed and measurable targets. This approach will require co-ordinated action from a whole range of decision-makers and practitioners in policy areas including; employment, health, education, housing and economic regeneration.

 

As well as addressing the issues faced by those already in poverty, Knowsley hopes that their Child Poverty strategy will also facilitate early identification and intervention of those most at risk of poverty and wider social exclusion – tackling problems in a systematic way before they have time to escalate.

 

 

Knowsley's role in the development of the toolkit has involved:

  • Acting as a Local Authority test bed for tool kit methods and recommendations.  This role has been shared with the London borough of Islington.
  • Membership on the Child Poverty Tool Kit steering group
  • Co-hosting one of the regional workshops – bringing together a range of partners from across the North West region.
  • Facilitating  Knowsley-wide and Merseyside-wide feedback sessions on the tool kit’s content. 

 

This was built around a presentation by Inclusion to colleagues from economic development, children’s services, health, education, and the Chief Executive’s department.

 

Aligning the work on child poverty with other current agendas

One of the key objectives for Knowsley is to ensure that their Child Poverty strategy aligns with other key agendas and strategies across the borough. For instance, it is essential that the work on child poverty feeds into the development of the Sustainable Communities’ Strategy, the Economic Development strategy, the Every Child Matters agenda and the Local Development Framework.

 

Using the Local Area Agreement

The Local Area Agreement is the primary strategic mechanism for ensuring that child poverty is prioritised within the area.  During recent priority target-setting sessions within Knowsley, child poverty has been identified as a potential cross- cutting theme.

 

Next steps

  • A Partnership wide consultation day – to agree the way forward
  • Establish a cross-cutting working group - it is important that this group feeds in to existing governance mechanisms and is led by senior officers who can ultimately make a difference in how service delivery impacts on child poverty.   
  • Writing the child poverty strategy and agreeing a local target
  • Developing a sub-regional approach to tackling child poverty – Knowsley is leading on Child Poverty as part of the Merseyside City Employment Strategy. It s envisaged that the CES will build on Knowsley’s experience to develop a sub-regional Child Poverty strategy.